Research has shown that deportations in large numbers can prompt foreclosure spikes, another potential
negative ripple effect of an aggressive immigration-enforcement policy on the housing market. That pattern
was demonstrated among Hispanic homeowners in U.S.

counties where large-scale deportation sweeps were
carried out in recent years.

According to a study published in the journal
Sociological Science and reported in The New York Times,
the bulk of the 3 million undocumented immigrants
deported between 2005 and 2013 were working
males. Once their incomes were subtracted from the
household income stream, one of the study’s authors
explains, the remaining family members — many
legal residents or U.S. citizens — often struggled to
make mortgage payments.

Homeownership

The impact of Hispanic homebuyers on the overall
market has been increasing steadily and is expected
to continue on that trajectory. The Urban Institute
projects that between 2010 and 2030, the bulk of new
homeowners will be nonwhite, with more than half
expected to be Hispanic — while less than 7 percent
will be white.

“Within 15 years, the highest number of home pur-

“That’s what’s happening. It’s a changing America.”

NAHREP estimates that about 3 million of the
11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S.
currently are potential homeowners — assuming a
path to citizenship can be established. A study by